The present invention relates to the field of compact disc (CD) data storage, specifically to a method and apparatus for packaging a smaller size compact disc, or a smaller size compact disc and disc adaptor into a credit card, business card, or baseball card/collectors card size.
It may be desirable to be able to distribute digital information in a medium as widely accepted and easily carried as a business, credit, or collectors card that can be read or read and written to by a standard CD drive. For example, Spector, U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,561 discusses using a CD-ROM as a baseball collectable (Col. 2, lines 3-10) and provides a case for displaying such collectibles. However, a standard 12 cm CD-ROM is rather large and awkward compared to a standard baseball card, business card, or credit card size format.
It also may be desirable to change the shape of the small compact disc of the invention. It is known that a standard 12 cm in diameter compact disc can be cut (made) to have straight sides and play as a standard 12 cm diameter CD. Such a product is presently marketed under the trade name CyberTract(trademark) and is commercially available through the American Tract Society and made with the cooperation of DISCART(trademark), LLC, which claims copyright to the disc shapes and also claims patents pending.
One such tract, for example, has been marketed using the likeness of the late Mickey Mantle imprinted onto the face of the device. The device is encoded with text, graphics, and video of the late Mickey Mantle discussing his religious conversion. The overall appearance (but not size) of the device is akin to that of a baseball card or collectable, on one side.
The DISCART(trademark) device, however, is made as a cut down (rectangular) version of a standard 12 cm compact disc (CD). This disc maintains the 12 cm diameter at four points to align itself in the CD drive. As a result, the packaged product is larger than a standard baseball card or sports collectable. Thus, products such as the DISCART(trademark) device may not be as readily acceptable for collectors. Such an apparatus, for example, would not fit within standard baseball card holders, drawers, or shelving.
In addition, while the device appears to play satisfactorily in most CD players and CD-ROM drives, after testing the inventor has discovered that the device may create some vibrations or noise when played or used in some CD players or CD-ROM drives. The rectangular shape of the disc creates a slight imbalance or non-aerodynamic shape which may result in vibration in some CD players.
Another approach is a CD-ROM card marketed as xe2x80x9cThe CarDxe2x80x9d by ADIVAN High Tech AG, Switzerland (www.adivan.com). The inventor is unaware of the first disclosure date of the ADIVAN device, and thus does not represent that the device qualifies as xe2x80x9cprior artxe2x80x9d per se. However, the device is disclosed herein under the spirit of the duty of disclosure.
The ADIVAN device is a CD-ROM provided in a number of shapes and sizes within a specified range. Four xe2x80x9cknobsxe2x80x9d, spaced along a 75 mm diameter circle protrude from the underside of card, to align the card in a CD-ROM drive utilizing the 8 cm depressed portion of the CD-ROM drive tray. The presence of protruding knobs may make the card less useful as a business card device, as the resultant card is no longer flat. As such, storage devices for business cards, baseball cards, and the like, may not readily accept such a card. The knobs also make the card less aerodynamic and cause greater vibration. It would also appear to require a special mold to form the knobs.
One approach to solving such problems might be to use the 8 cm CD of the prior art. It is known that an 8 cm in diameter compact disc made by the Sony Corporation is commercially available. The 8 cm compact disc holds the same type of information that the 12 cm diameter disc can and is playable in standard CD drives. Such CD xe2x80x9csinglesxe2x80x9d have heretofore been used mainly for music applications and the like. However, even an 8 cm CD is too large to fit in a standard baseball or business card size format.
Various adapters are known in the art for attaching to a 8 cm CD to adapt the 8 cm CD for playback on a 12 cm CD player, much as the old spindle adapters were used to play 45 RPM records on LP turntables. These adapters were designed when CD players did not incorporate an 8 cm aligning circle as they do today. Such adapters were also designed for use in compact disc cartridges (Caddys) which are very rare today. These adapters are still helpful today in playing 8 cm CDs in multi-disc cartridges and front loading players. 90 to 95% of CD players used today are tray loading drive types with 8 cm aligning circles, making these adapters unnecessary in the majority of CD players.
Yamamori, U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,784, issued Jun. 6, 1989, discloses one such device. It should be noted that it appears that the device of Yamamori engages the smaller 8 cm disc, thus forming a package which is 12 cm in diameter. Although the device of Yamamori may be suitable for playing back 8 cm discs, the overall structure of the apparatus suffers from some drawbacks.
To begin with, the adaptor has a 12 cm outer diameter. Thus, if the adaptor is distributed with an 8 cm disc, the overall package size would need to be at least 12 cm in diameter, or that of a standard CD case (e.g., so-called xe2x80x9cjewel boxxe2x80x9d) . It also requires excess handling of the 8 cm disc and the possibility of disengagement of the adaptor from the disc resulting in damage to the disc or the disc drive.
Eihaus, U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,330, issued Feb. 6, 1990, Published EP application 0,331,389, published Sep. 6, 1989, and EP Patent Specification 0,391,638 published Apr. 19, 1995, all disclose similar CD adapters for adapting an 8 cm CD to a 12 cm format. However, all of those devices appear to suffer from the same fundamental limitations of the Yamamori device. In particular, the overall size of such adapters precludes them from being packaged into a package substantially smaller than a standard 12 cm CD-ROM. Moreover, such devices appear to physically attach to the CD-ROM itself.
Yamashita et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,677, issued Oct. 10, 1995, discloses an adaptor for a smaller CD for use in a multi-CD adaptor. The device grips the smaller CD which is then removed from the adaptor laterally by the playback apparatus. Such a device may not be readily adaptable to a tray-type CD-ROM player or the like.
Typical CD-ROM drives with opening trays may be provided with a depressed inner portion which may be used to center an 8 cm CD-ROM. Once the CD-ROM is placed in this depression, and the tray closed, the spindle of the CD-ROM drive may engage the center hole of an 8 cm CD-ROM successfully and the 8 cm CD-ROM may be read. Without such a depression, the 8 cm CD-ROM may slide about when the tray is closed, and the spindle may not properly engage, possibly damaging or scratching the 8 cm CD-ROM.
While such a solution may work for an 8 cm CD-ROM, it may not work for other, odd sizes. Given the large installed base of CD-ROM drives, one wishing to distribute a non-standard (e.g., diameter other than 8 cm or 12 cm) CD-ROM size, one cannot expect users to buy new CD-ROM drives with yet a second depression for yet another size CD-ROM.
In a first embodiment, the present invention may utilize a small compact disc, smaller than the standard 12 cm diameter CD, that will fit inside a card shaped container (if desired) . In accordance with the invention, a CD Card device for packaging digital information in a medium as widely accepted and easily carried as a business, credit or collectors card that can be read (or read and written to by drives and disc types so capable) by standard CD drives comprises a small compact disc. This small compact disc is smaller than the standard 12 cm in diameter compact disc commonly used today and the 8 cm compact disc referred to in the Background of the Invention Section above.
The small compact disc of the present invention uses the same technology (materials, and data standards) as does the standard 12 cm diameter CD with the only significant exception being its outside diameter (in a first and third embodiments) or its shape (in a second embodiment). Also, weight may be added to the small compact disc of either embodiment by adding heavier materials and/or increasing the thickness of some outer areas.
The small CD of the present invention may store any data that is stored on a standard 12 cm compact disc, and be read or read and written to if so designed, like any standard 12 cm disc so capable. This is possible because all critical information to allow the proper use of a CD is carried in the innermost part of the area that carries information. Such information falls within the diameter of the small compact disc of the invention. The small compact disc of the invention requires only proper placement in the standard CD drive to perform properly.
The first and third embodiments of the present invention may require an adaptor to ensure proper placement. This adaptor is discussed in the following paragraph. The second (and preferred) embodiment of the invention may not require an adaptor to assure proper placement. Both small compact discs, one embodiment of which may be approximately 5.5 to 6.35 cm in diameter in the case of the first and third embodiments and the other having an approximate width of 5.5 to 6.35 cm and a length of 8 cm in the case of the second (and preferred) embodiment, will have less storage capacity than the standard 12 cm in diameter compact disc.
An adaptor is designed for use with the first and third embodiments of the present invention. The adaptor is designed to position the small compact disc of the first and third embodiments correctly so that it will be accepted by the CD drive. The adaptor is also stored within the card shaped container. One embodiment of the adaptor may stretch across (over) the 8 cm disc aligning circle (available with tray loading CD drives), being kept in position by protruding arc shaped ridges. In this position it will align the small compact disc for proper use.
First, the adaptor is placed in the CD drive tray, then the small compact disc is placed within it. The adaptor will remain in its initial position in the tray as the small compact disc is lifted out of it by the drive mechanism for use. The small compact disc will be returned to the adaptor by the drive mechanism when the small compact disc is no longer in use.
The small compact disc of the second embodiment (and preferred) of the present invention, when placed in the tray, will be in the proper position as a result of its shape.
A card shaped container may hold the small compact disc in a manner to protect it from the casual handling that is common to business, credit and collector cards, the type of handling that could damage a compact disc. It also may hold the adaptor (in the first and third embodiments) used to position the small compact disc. The container permits removal and replacement of the small compact disc (and the adaptor, in the first and third embodiments) from within the card. The card may be designed to display information similar to a credit, business or collectors card on its surfaces.
In its preferred embodiment the CD card may be offered as a digital collectors card, for example a baseball, football, or basketball card. It may also be offered as a digital card displaying the common sights at vacation areas to remind vacationers of their trip while using their computer. One way in which the information may be displayed is in the format of a screen saver. The card may also be used as would a conventional business card but with the added dimension of conveying large amounts of digital information to its recipient. There are many possible uses for the CD Card only some of which are described here.
It is known that in a small percentage of CD drives (less the 5%) a larger adaptor for the first and third embodiments or a newly designed adaptor for the second embodiment may be needed. If it is desired that the smaller compact discs be read in those CD drives, a special larger adaptor may be provided.